English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 27/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
No slave
can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other,
or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth
Luke 16/13-17: “No slave can serve two
masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted
to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’The
Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So
he said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others;
but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination
in the sight of God. ‘The law and the prophets were in effect until John came;
since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries
to enter it by force. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than
for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on
August 26-27/2021
MoPH: 1332 new coronavirus infections, seven deaths
Statement attributed to Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General on deteriorating
socio-economic situation in Lebanon
EU Ambassador visits Baabda Palace, carries urgent message to President Aoun
from High EU Representative
Miqati Makes No Statement after Meeting Aoun
Bitar Supervises 'Welding' Simulation at Beirut Port Site
Diab Says Won't Appear before Bitar Today
Bitar Asks Security Forces to Bring Diab to Interrogation
Former prime ministers dismiss Bitar's decision against Diab “public insult to
PM’s post”
Oueidat Denies Rejecting Prosecution of Ibrahim and Saliba
Three Detainees Charged with Causing al-Tleil Fuel Explosion
Ministry of Energy: Emirates National Oil ENOC won first tender to replace 84
thousand tons of black fuel from Iraq
Activists, families of cancer patients stage sit-in at Gibran Khalil Gibran Park
Sami Gemayel: We want cancer medicines
Berri meets MP Tony Frangieh and MEA Board Chairman, receives letter from EU’s
Borrell
Visa appoints Leila Serhan Senior Vice President to lead operations across North
Africa, Levant, and Pakistan
Lebanon fuel crisis turns up the heat on Hezbollah/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab
News/August 26/ 2021
The Iranian bliss that Lebanon should expect/Ibrahim Al-Jabeen/The Arab
Weekly/August 26/2021
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 26-27/2021
Kabul bombings mark deadliest day for US troops in over a decade
Biden has blood on his hands’: Republicans blame US President for Kabul attacks
Daesh attack on Kabul airport kills 100 Afghans, Wounds 150 and Kills 13 US
troops
Biden warns Kabul airport attackers: ‘We will hunt you down’
US officials strongly believe ISIS-Khorasan group behind attack at Kabul's
airport
Canada announces end to Afghan evacuations
U.S. Says 1,500 Americans May Still Await Kabul Evacuation
Russia to Supply Weapons to Afghanistan's Neighbors
ISIS-Khorasan emerges as serious threat in Afghanistan
Israeli PM to Make Case to Biden Against Iran Nuclear Pact
Israel to Allow Goods into Gaza in Move to Ease Tensions
More than 150 killed in Ethiopia attack: Rights agency
Cairo sees deployment of Turkish drones in Cyprus as ‘provocative,’ avoids
escalation
Canada announces additional humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and
neighbouring countries
Qatar’s emir receives UAE delegation, both sides discuss cooperation
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC
English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
August 26-27/2021
Today in History: Turkey is Born of Jihad/Raymond Ibrahim/August 26/2021
Europe Braces for Tsunami of Afghan Migrants/Soeren Kern/Gatestone
Institute./August 26/2021
Why Is Congress on the Sidelines as Afghanistan Burns?/Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone
Institute./August 26, 2021
Coordinated Law Enforcement and Treasury Action Against Money Launderers in the
Tri-Border Area /Emanuele Ottolenghi/Policy Brief-FDD/August 26/2021
EU Actions Show Iran Will Pay No Price for Terror/Alireza Nader & Benjamin
Weinthal/Creal Clear World/August 26/2021
Afghanistan war critics blame Biden for the current chaos. They need to look in
the mirror./Bradley Bowman/Think/August 26/2021
Azerbaijani support underpins Turkey’s ambitions in South Caucasus/Burcu Ozcelik/The
Arab Weekly/August 26/2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 26-27/2021
MoPH: 1332 new coronavirus infections, seven
deaths
NNA August 26/2021
Lebanon has recorded 1332 new coronavirus cases and seven deaths in the last 24
hours, as reported by the Ministry of Public Health on Thursday.
Statement attributed to Spokesperson for UN
Secretary-General on deteriorating socio-economic situation in Lebanon
NNA/August 26/2021
The following is a statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, on the deteriorating socio-economic
situation in Lebanon .“The Secretary-General expresses his deep concern about
the rapidly deteriorating socio-economic situation in Lebanon. The people of
Lebanon are struggling every day with hyperinflation, acute shortages of fuel,
electricity, medicine and even access to clean water. The Secretary-General
calls on all Lebanese political leaders to urgently form an effective government
of national unity that can bring immediate relief, justice and accountability to
the people of Lebanon and drive an ambitious and meaningful course for reform to
restore access to basic services, restore stability, promote sustainable
development and inspire hope for a better future.”
EU Ambassador visits Baabda Palace, carries urgent
message to President Aoun from High EU Representative
NNA/August 26/2021
The European Union’s High Representative, Josep Borrell, urged President of the
Republic, General Michel Aoun and the political class to “Urgently form a
government and swiftly implement necessary measures and reforms, to get Lebanon
out of its current crisis”.Borrell pointed to the aid provided by the EU to
Lebanon over the past years, following the Beirut Port explosion, and stressed
the possibility of discussing the provision of another package of aid, after the
formation of a new government. In addition, Borrell indicated that “Lebanon is
collapsing and the risk of social turmoil and instability grows daily. The
President and Prime Minister Mikati must now agree on a government as a matter
of urgency, for the benefit of the Lebanese people”.Stances of the High
Representative of the EU came in a letter to President of the Republic, General
Michel Aoun, conveyed by EU Ambassador to Lebanon, Ralph Tarraf.
Statement:
“I met this morning with Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, and now I have
met with His Excellency President Michel Aoun. I will visit Parliament Speaker
Nabih Berri today as well. I am carrying an urgent message from EU High
Representative Josep Borrell. We are deeply concerned about the rapid
deterioration of the economic, financial, security and social crisis. The state
is suffering in its ability to provide basic services and supplies, just as the
Lebanese are suffering. The Akkar explosion is another example of people paying
the price for political inaction. Almost two weeks after this tragedy occurred,
I am saddened to hear of more victims and my condolences to their families. I
call once again on the decision-makers to form a government and take the
necessary measures and reforms to get Lebanon out of its current crisis. Once
the government is formed, the EU will re-launch negotiations on the priorities
of our partnership with Lebanon, and we will consider a financial aid package,
if a work program is drawn up with the International Monetary Fund. We are also
ready to support the electoral process in 2022. The European Union continues to
provide significant assistance to the Lebanese people. You can count on us at
this difficult time, but the Lebanese decision-makers must also bear their
responsibilities.
There is no time.”
Questions & Answers:
Responding to a question about the possibility of the European Union assisting
the Lebanese in returning the displaced Syrians to their country, Ambassador
Tarraf replied: “The European Union knows that the presence of the displaced
Syrians in large numbers in Lebanon has created very difficult conditions for
this country, and we agree with Lebanon that the best solution to this crisis,
is the return of the displaced to their country. We are confident that the
displaced wish to return to Syria, when decent and dignified return conditions
are available.
We may disagree with Lebanon about whether these conditions have already become
available or not, but we are all united around the goal of return. The displaced
go to their country, and we have to do more, but during this time, we will not
leave Lebanon alone in this crisis. We have realized that it is not enough to
help the displaced without the help of the Lebanese and neighboring countries to
deal with this crisis, and we have intensified our presence in recent years. We
also believe that Lebanon needs this help to deal with this situation, which we
hope will be temporary, and to do everything necessary to get out of it, and as
I said, we do not disagree about the goals”.
Concerning continuous Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace and borders,
Tarraf said “We have always called for respecting Lebanese sovereignty. We are
aware of the Israeli raids. From the Israeli point of view, these raids are due
to provocation from Lebanon. We are doing everything we can to calm the
situation, since the last thing which Lebanon can bear now is a military
conflict with Israel, since it isn’t in anyone’s interest. So there must be a
calm and a way to return to stability. In fact however, I am more concerned at
the moment about the economic crisis which requires taking very difficult
decisions. Forming a government is only the first step to confront the economic
crisis, as this step may create some hope to deal with the economic crisis, but
facing this crisis requires taking very difficult decisions which may not
improve the living conditions of the Lebanese in the near period. A government
which is able to work and create a relationship of trust that will push the
Lebanese to understand that things will improve through government work, not
only to support us but also to provide support”.-- Presidency Press Office
Miqati Makes No Statement after Meeting Aoun
Naharnet/August 26/2021
PM-designate Najib Miqati held a new meeting Thursday with President Michel Aoun
at the Baabda Palace.Unlike after the previous meetings, Miqati left the palace
without making a statement. "Hopefully things will be fine," he told reporters.
Informed sources had said that Miqati had intended to visit Baabda Wednesday
afternoon carrying a complete cabinet line-up before being informed by the
Presidency that some issues were still unresolved, prompting him to postpone the
visit to Thursday. Miqati had met with the club of former PMs to discuss the
formation developments, stressing that he would continue his efforts and that he
“will not offer concessions,” the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal reported on
Thursday. Informed political sources meanwhile ruled out in remarks to al-Anbaa
the possibility of an imminent government formation, noting that there are
indications that the blocking one-third demand is still on the table. “There is
no agreement yet on all names, starting by the deputy PM and the foreign
minister to the rest of the portfolios,” the sources added. Al-Mustaqbal bloc MP
Assem Araji meanwhile told al-Anbaa that “there will be no government in the
foreseeable future,” adding that “it seems that the Presidency does not want a
government unless it resembles Hassab Diab’s government.”“Its formation is
hinging on the fate of the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran and on the
possibility of obtaining a blocking one-third,” Araji added.
Bitar Supervises 'Welding' Simulation at Beirut Port Site
Naharnet/August 26/2021
The lead investigator into Beirut’s port blast, Judge Tarek Bitar, supervised on
Wednesday afternoon a simulation of the welding work that preceded the explosion
in hangar 12, the National News Agency said on Thursday. “The simulation took
place in the presence of a number of lawyers representing the concerned
parties,” the agency reported, adding that “it was prepared by a joint committee
of army officers, the ISF Intelligence Branch, members of the Civil Defense and
a judge.”The welding simulation happened in coordination with the Lebanese
Meteorological Service to make sure the weather conditions are completely
identical to the weather of August 4, 2020, the day of the explosion. A detailed
scene reconstruction of the last welding stage was done to verify whether the
welding was a direct cause of the fire and the subsequent explosion, the NNA
said. A model similar to the port's 'Hangar 12' was built for this purpose,
meters away from the crater created by the explosion, with a gate identical to
the one that was said to have undergone the welding work.The virtual simulation
was filmed and documented, without media coverage, to be included in the port
blast file.
Diab Says Won't Appear before Bitar Today
Naharnet/August 26/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab will not appear before the lead
investigator in Beirut’s port blast case Judge Tarek Bitar, as a defendant
today, Thursday, according to a memo issued by the Premiership's
General-Secretariat. The memo was sent to Bitar informing him of his “lack of
jurisdiction to interrogate the resigned prime minister.”The Premiership's
General-Secretariat added that the file is still “in the hands of the
parliament, which has not yet resolved the issue of the charges against the
deputies and Diab, the lifting of immunities and the referral of the file to the
Higher Council for the Trial of Presidents and Ministers.”
Bitar Asks Security Forces to Bring Diab to
Interrogation
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/August 26/2021
The lead investigative judge into the port blast, Tarek Bitar, on Thursday
issued a subpoena ordering security forces to bring caretaker PM Hassan Diab to
an interrogation session on September 20. Bitar’s decision came after Diab
failed to appear before him today, Thursday, the National News Agency said.
Bitar ordered security forces to bring Diab to the main courthouse in Beirut 24
hours before the new date of September 20, a judicial source said. Diab had sent
Bitar a memo through the Premiership's General-Secretariat informing him of his
“lack of jurisdiction to interrogate the resigned prime minister.”The memo added
that the file is still “in the hands of parliament, which has not yet resolved
the issue of the charges against the deputies and Diab, the lifting of
immunities, and the referral of the file to the Higher Council for the Trial of
Presidents and Ministers.”Diab had also declined to be interrogated last year by
Bitar's predecessor, Fadi Sawwan. Bitar was named to lead the investigation in
February after Sawwan was removed following legal challenges by former ministers
he had accused of negligence that led to the blast. Diab, who resigned following
the explosion, said in an interview last year that he was being singled out and
charged while others knew more. Sawwan had issued charges of negligence against
Diab and three former ministers in December. Bitar picked up where Sawan left
off by summoning Diab and demanding parliament lift the immunity of ex-finance
minister Ali Hasan Khalil, former public works minister Ghazi Zoaiter and
ex-interior minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq. Bitar has also asked for permission to
investigate State Security chief Tony Saliba and the head of the General
Security agency, Abbas Ibrahim. He also brought charges against several former
high-ranking military officials, including ex-army chief Jean Qahwaji, and
several judges. Documents and witness testimony suggest they were "all aware of
the ammonium nitrate shipment and its dangers," according to a judicial source
who spoke to the AFP news agency.
Former prime ministers dismiss Bitar's decision
against Diab “public insult to PM’s post”
NNA/August 26/2021
Former prime ministers: Najib Mikati, Fouad Siniora, Saad Hariri, and Tammam
Salam, on Thursday issued a statement in the wake of the most recent
developments that resulted after judicial investigator, Judge Tarek Al-Bitar,
has summoned caretaker Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, over Beirut Port blast.
“Never in the history of Lebanon has a document of summons been recorded against
a Lebanese Prime Minister similar to that of Judge Tarek Al-Bitar,” the
statement read. “This precedent is dangerous in all political, national, and
constitutional dimensions, and it reflects a measure that’s far from being
innocent, as it takes advantage of the law and the anger of the families of the
victims of this heinous crime in order to undermine the position of the prime
minister. Yet, none of the other higher positions in the Lebanese state, which
are publicly being referred to as responsible for this crime, are being treated
the same,” the statement said. “This procedure is fraught with political
suspicions because it reveals continuous attempts to overturn the Taif Agreement
and undermine the prestige of the prime minister’s post,” the statement added.
Oueidat Denies Rejecting Prosecution of Ibrahim and
Saliba
Naharnet/August 26/2021
State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat on Thursday denied that he has rejected to
grant Judge Tarek Bitar permissions for the prosecution of State Security chief
Tony Saliba and General Security head Abbas Ibrahim in the port blast case. In a
statement, Oueidat’s office said that he “has not taken a decision regarding any
request related to the port case ever since he recused himself,” describing the
reports in this regard as “baseless and malicious.”The office also noted that
the jurisdiction to look into the permissions for the prosecution of Saliba and
Ibrahim does not belong to the public prosecution but rather to “the Higher
Defense Council and the Minister of Interior.”The reports had claimed that
Oueidat had informed Bitar in an “official memo” of his rejection to grant the
permissions.
Three Detainees Charged with Causing al-Tleil Fuel Explosion
Naharnet/August 26/2021
Acting State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki charged on
Thursday three people with causing the deadly fuel explosion in al-Tleil, the
National News Agency said. The horrific explosion killed dozens and injured
scores of people. Soldiers were among the victims. Akiki charged the detainees
Georges Ibrahim and Ali Sobhi Faraj with "storing inflammable material in an
unsafe manner, despite their knowledge of its danger,” and with “endangering the
lives of citizens and causing the death of 31 soldiers and civilians." Ibrahim
and Faraj face temporary hard labor if convicted. The arrested defendant Jerji
Elias Ibrahim was also charged with "setting the fire," the agency added, and
faces permanent hard labor if convicted. The detainees were all referred to
Acting State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Fadi Sawan. Akiki asked
Sawwan to interrogate them and to issue arrest warrants against them, according
to the NNA.
Ministry of Energy: Emirates National Oil ENOC won
first tender to replace 84 thousand tons of black fuel from Iraq
NNA/August 26/2021
Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy on Thursday said in a statement that Emirates
National Oil Company (ENOC), has won the first tender to replace 84 thousand
tons of black fuel from Iraq with about 30 thousand tons of heavy B grade fuel
and about 33 thousand tons of fuel oil.
Activists, families of cancer patients stage sit-in at Gibran Khalil Gibran Park
NNA/August 26/2021
A group of activists and families of cancer patients are currently carrying out
a sit-in at Gibran Khalil Gibran Park in front of ESCWA building to demand the
swift provision of medicines to treat cancer patients, our reporter said on
Thursday, adding that the sit-in is taking place at the invitation of Barbara
Nassar Foundation.
Sami Gemayel: We want cancer medicines
NNA/August 26/2021
Kataeb Party leader, Sami Gemayel, on Thursday said via twitter: "This is not
the way to deal with heroes like Rachel — those heroes who had fought their
disease and defeated it, so that in the end, the political system and a group of
medicine monopolists decide to deny them access to medicine and even air! There
is no priority above that of the Lebanese people’s health; the state and its
institutions should act immediately."
Berri meets MP Tony Frangieh and MEA Board Chairman,
receives letter from EU’s Borrell
NNA/August 26/2021
House Speaker Nabih Berri, on Thursday welcomed at the Second Presidency in Ain
el-Tineh, MP Tony Frangieh, with whom he discussed the current general situation
and the latest political developments, in addition to an array of legislative
affairs. Speaker Berri also met with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of
the Middle East Airlines (MEA), Mohammed Al-Hout. This afternoon, Berri received
the European Union Ambassador to Lebanon, Ralph Tarraf, who handed him a letter
from the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy Minister Josep Borrell, on the explosion that occurred in Akkar.
In addition to his condolences and sympathy, Borrel affirmed in his message that
“Lebanon is in a state of eclipse, and social and security dangers are
escalating daily...and consequently, the formation of a government has become
more than necessary and in the interest of the Lebanese people.” He added that
Lebanon can count on the help of the European Union in addressing its matters.
On the other hand, Berri received cables of condolences for the victims of
Akkar’s al-Tleil tank explosion, notably from former Iraqi Vice President Ayad
Allawi, and the Secretary-General of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member
States, Muhammad Qureshi Nias.
Visa appoints Leila Serhan Senior Vice President to lead operations across North
Africa, Levant, and Pakistan
NNA/August 26/2021
Visa announced on Thursday the appointment of Leila Serhan as Group Country
Manager and Senior Vice President to lead its presence across the North Africa,
Levant and Pakistan (NALP) region. Ms. Serhan brings more than two decades
experience of leadership positions, including 20 years gained at Microsoft. Ms.
Serhan most recently led Microsoft’s public sector business across the Gulf
region, and previously served as General Manager for its operations across North
Africa, East Mediterranean, and Pakistan. She previously held roles spanning
country management, finance and marketing and has driven public and private
sector digital transformation initiatives in finance, government and education.
Ms. Serhan is a strong advocate for women’s empowerment, founding and currently
serving as President for the Women in IT Association in Lebanon. Visa is
the market leader across the North Africa Levant and Pakistan region which
serves 15 countries from five regional offices. Visa recently announced its
intention to open a new office in Sudan, one year since the first Visa card was
issued in the market. Ms. Serhan will form part of Visa’s Central & Eastern
Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) leadership team, reporting to Regional
President Andrew Torre. “Having spent the breadth of my career working across
North Africa, Levant and Pakistan, I have been fortunate to witness the rapid
pace of digital transformation across these exciting and dynamic markets,” said
Leila Serhan. “The changes over the past year have demonstrated the critical
role that digital payments can play in accelerating economic growth and more
broadly helping individuals and businesses to thrive. I am now looking forward
to working with the Visa teams, our clients and partners, to bring the benefits
of digital payments to all.”“Visa has long been committed to establishing deep
roots across North Africa, Levant and Pakistan, and we recognize the great
opportunity that still exists to expand access to digital payments to more
consumers and merchants,” said Andrew Torre, Regional President for Central
Europe, Middle East and Africa, Visa. “We are extremely optimistic about the
prospects for this region, and I am delighted we have appointed a leader of
Leila’s caliber, regional experience and passion to accelerate the next phase of
growth.”—Visa
Lebanon fuel crisis turns up the heat on Hezbollah
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/August 26, 2021
The fuel crisis unfolding in Lebanon has led to clogged roads across the
country. The lack of fuel oil, or “mazut” as the Lebanese call it, has also left
homes and now hospitals in the dark. In a country where the state electricity
company provides power only for a few hours at a time, the Lebanese must rely on
their own power generation for much of the day. Yet, with food and medicine
rapidly disappearing, finding “mazut” also has become a problem. Fuel shortages
also provide an example of the way Lebanon has been transformed into a
caste-like society, with the more powerful and those connected to Hezbollah able
to fill their car tanks as well as have their “mazut” delivered. Soon, people
will have no choice but to beg their respective political and religious leaders
for help — the same names they accuse of being corrupt. Under the protection of
Hezbollah, an entire country has been brought down and the will of its people
destroyed. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah recently boasted that three tankers
carrying Iranian fuel were en route to Lebanon. He also challenged the US and
Israel to do anything about the shipments. At the same time, Saeed Khatibzadeh,
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, declared that the country was willing to sell
fuel to the Lebanese government in addition to the three tanker shipments which
were bought by Lebanese Shiite businessmen. The simple question is, what is the
deal these businessmen have with the Lebanese government? And, moreover, is the
problem a lack of fuel in global markets, or is it the Lebanese government’s
inability to pay for fuel imports?
The answer is simple. In theory, Lebanon should and could buy from anywhere in
the world if it is willing to pay. Moreover, an Iranian official has made it
clear that these shipments have been purchased. So how is the Lebanese
government going to compensate the businessmen who bought it?
This situation shows the hypocrisy of Nasrallah’s declaration on the subject.
Far from saving Lebanon, Iran is engaging in a business transaction. Nasrallah
not only will be able to extract the payment for his business friends, but you
can also expect that a big part of the shipments will be sold in contraband to
Syria. The rest will be left for the Lebanese to fight over at skyrocketing
prices. Under the protection of Hezbollah, an entire country has been brought
down and the will of its people destroyed.
Portraying a commercial transaction as an act of sacrifice by Iran for Lebanon
is a shameful Hezbollah tactic. In fact, this shipment is good business for
Iran, the businessmen, Hezbollah and Syria. It is a bad deal for the Lebanese
people, who will pay a much higher price than a financial transaction. Lebanon
should refuse these shipments. What remains of a responsible government should
focus on finding another source, with clear purchasing and distribution
conditions that will alleviate the pain of the Lebanese or at least restore
electricity to hospitals.
It is clear that Hezbollah controls Lebanon, but with the country in turmoil it
is becoming increasingly difficult to serve Iranian interests. The domestic
situation is hurting the entire population, though Shiites might be suffering
more as they face a ruthless dictatorship.
In short, Hezbollah no longer operates in a friendly environment, and this is
its biggest problem. The Lebanese have rejected this Iranian element in their
society. They do not have the power to act on it, but they will, if they can,
disrupt whatever is possible in Hezbollah’s operations. Hezbollah is now clearly
an invading force trying to keep the population silent.
International views of the situation are flawed. Much of the world believes, for
example, that an alternative source of fuel for Lebanon would be a political
loss for Hezbollah. That is not the case. Hezbollah would welcome fuel from
anywhere in the world since it will still get its cut. Moreover, a situation
where the entire country is blocking the streets is a problem for the militants,
disrupting their own movements and logistics efforts. One should not forget that
Hezbollah is, first and foremost, a military organization, not a political one.
Nasrallah knows that any resource coming into the country is his and that he has
the power to decide its distribution.
The tragedy of the fuel situation is that while people are running around trying
to figure out how to survive, no one has time to even question why the state
electricity company lacks the capacity or resources to supply the country. The
answer is simple: The decrepit Lebanese state is Hezbollah’s — it is a cascade
of “fronts” robbing the country and protecting interests all the way to Tehran.
I am quite certain that the Lebanese lining up for hours at petrol stations will
never see any of the political and religious leaders’ vehicles. The same group
will also have the fuel oil they need to keep their fridges running while lights
go off in schools and hospitals. It is this caste-like society that the Syrian
occupation and now the Iranian one has ushered in. The country is stuck in a
vicious circle as minorities are forced to seek shelter and protection from
their leaders, however weak they might be. The result is that individuals’
duties and loyalty become the property of their leaders, not the country. It is
time to break this cycle by pushing forward with localization.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the
editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
The Iranian bliss that Lebanon should expect
Ibrahim Al-Jabeen/The Arab Weekly/August 26/2021
Tensions have mounted in the region since the secretary-general of Hezbollah,
Hassan Nasrallah, announced to the Lebanese that he will solve the complex
problem of energy and fuel shortages, by bringing from Iran a ship that will end
the crisis that has occurred from fuel shortages and the rise in prices and the
subsequent tragic incidents. The question now is how will the Americans and
Israelis react to this public defiance of the sanctions imposed on Iran and
Hezbollah. Israel leaked suggestions that it would target the Iranian ship as it
had targeted others at sea in the past. Then the United States released a
project authored by former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri that would import
Egyptian gas through Jordan and Syria. But then Israel passed the responsibility
for the Iranian ships to the US military if ever the vessels reach the destroyed
port of Beirut or the port of Tripoli. But there were also indications that Tel
Aviv knew very well that fuel shipments often arrived from Iran to the Syrian
regime and were unloaded at the port of Tartus and elsewhere, and that this new
Iranian shipment might take the same route and then be transferred to Lebanon.
It will not change much if the Iranian shipments go to Lebanon or Syria.
Hezbollah and Assad and behind them Iran were able to break the Sykes-Picot
imposed borders (before ISIS did the same) by establishing the so-called
“resistance” axis that included Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, which was then passed
to the guardianship of Iran’s Wali al-Faqih.
Iran does not see a difference between financing Hezbollah in the southern
suburbs of Beirut and financing it in Syria. The last thing that concerns it are
the basic needs of people in the two countries, Syria and Lebanon. The Syrian
regime, which has dealt pragmatically with the Iranians, finds itself in more
trouble than it appears, as there is a conflict pitting its Tehran allies
against those from Moscow. Their struggle is over almost everything, interests,
influence, airports, projects and others.
Today, the Damascus regime is satisfied with being a front for a multinational
hybrid project that rules Syria. The situation is different in Lebanon. The
hybrid project is at the forefront, while Hezbollah runs matters from the back
office.
It is safe to say that Iran is biding its time. It is re-engineering the region,
from both demographic and security perspectives. It is investing in the long
term as it is not in a hurry. That notion has spread to its proxies in the
region, who thought they could act as Khamenei does.
Contrary to the case of the Iranians, time is neither on Nasrallah’s side nor on
Assad’s side. The rules that govern the behaviour of the natives are different
from those faced by the Iranian invaders coming from afar. Hezbollah has its
Shia popular base among the Lebanese and Assad has supporters from among his
Alawite sect and from the other the sects. But indications do not bode well for
Nasrallah and Assad. Discontent has begun to spread in their respective
societies. Defiance of their authority has increased thanks to social media and
live broadcasts.
The situation is unlikely to last. Cathartic release for pent-up frustrations is
not enough. People do not live on slogans or ammonium nitrate. And they do not
build their homes with missiles that Iran is accumulating for no purpose.
Emotional drives have given way to the motivation of monthly salaries. Things
are not the same anymore. Iran has nothing to lose. Assad and Nasrallah have a
lot to lose, however, at the end of their tenures. In their absence, their
respective projects are likely to collapse and wither away. Gas and oil
infusions are not sustainable projects. Iranian oil going to Lebanon will
follow the path of Lebanese oil that is smuggled to the Assad regime. The latter
will always need to swallow Lebanon’s riches the way it did in the
mid-seventies, after its army entered the neighbouring country, leading to what
was known as the long guardianship era. The collapse about which Lebanon’s
politicians and wise men have warned is definitely coming after the final aspect
of the border between the two countries is destroyed.
And this process of attrition will not stop until Lebanon turns into a Syrian
governorate in which life is similar to that in the areas that are supposed to
be under Assad’s control, which are in reality areas controlled by Iran.
President Michel Aoun’s prophecy will be hence fulfilled. Responding to a
question from a journalist who asked him , “Where are we going?”, he replied,
“To hell.” This is the Iranian bliss that Iraqis, Yemenis and Syrians have
already experienced, no less, no more.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on August 26-27/2021
Kabul bombings mark deadliest day for
US troops in over a decade
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/27 August ,2021
Thursday’s attacks that killed at least 13 US service mumbers and injured 18
more marked the deadliest day for US forces since 2011.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing near Kabul’s airport, where US
troops have been in control since President Joe Biden announced the end of the
20-year US military presence in Afghanistan. Thousands of US citizens, allies
and Afghan civilians have been evacuated since the Taliban took over the country
in a manner that dealt the US and the Biden administration a severe blow. US
Central Command chief Gen. Frank McKenzie vowed to respond to those who carried
out the deadly attack, which also killed dozens of Afghan civilians. It also
marked the first time US troops were killed in combat in Afghanistan since Feb.
8, 2020. At the time, two US soldiers were killed, and at least six others were
injured. The largest US-casualty-producing event in Afghanistan to date took
place on Aug. 6, 2011, when a US helicopter was shot down in Maidan Wardak. The
attack killed 30 US service members.
Biden has blood on his hands’: Republicans blame US President for Kabul attacks
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/ 27 August ,2021
Republicans in Congress pointed the finger of blame at US President Joe Biden
following the two suicide bombing attacks in Kabul that claimed the lives of
dozens, including 12 US servicemen on Thursday. The two blasts, which targeted
the crowds massing near the Kabul airport, was blamed on ISIS. The group claimed
responsibility for one of the bombings. At least 72 people died and another 158
were wounded, according to US and Afghan officials. House GOP Conference Chair
Elise Stefanik said on Twitter: “Joe Biden has blood on his hands… This horrific
national security and humanitarian disaster is solely the result of Joe Biden’s
weak and incompetent leadership. He is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief.” Biden
has been criticized for following through with his plan to fully withdraw US
forces from Afghanistan despite the Taliban seizing control of the country on
August 15. Republican Kevin McCarthy said: “Our enemies have taken advantage of
the chaotic nature of Biden's withdrawal,” and called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to
bring back Congress into session ahead of the evacuation deadline of August 31
“so we can be briefed thoroughly by the Administration and prohibit the
withdrawal of our troops until every American is safely out.”Representative Lisa
McClain tweeted: “[President Biden] you assured Americans the Taliban could be
trusted to secure the evacuation of our citizens and allies. There is now blood
on your hands.”Senator Lindsey Graham urged the Biden administration to
reestablish a presence in Bagram Air Base north of Kabul and run evacuation
flights from there. “I urge the Biden Administration to reestablish our presence
in Bagram as an alternative to the Kabul airport so that we do not leave our
fellow citizens and thousands of Afghan allies behind. It is not a capability
problem, but a problem of will,” he said.
Daesh attack on Kabul airport kills 100 Afghans,
Wounds 150 and Kills 13 US troops
News Agencies/Reuters/AP/August 26, 2021
KABUL: Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to
Kabul’s airport on Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of
horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.
At least 100 Afghans and 13 US troops were killed, Afghan and US officials said.
US officials said 11 Marines and one Navy medic were among those who died. They
said another 12 service members were wounded and warned the toll could grow.
More than 150 Afghans were wounded, an Afghan official said.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s Amaq News Agency said
on its Telegram channel. The US general overseeing the evacuation said the US
will “go after” the perpetrators of the Kabul airport attacks if they can be
found.
Video images uploaded by Afghan journalists showed dozens of bodies of people
killed in tightly packed crowds outside the airport. A watery ditch by the
airport fence was filled with blood-soaked corpses, some being fished out and
laid in heaps on the canal side while wailing civilians searched for loved ones.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said the Kingdom “strongly condemns and
denounces the terrorist attack.” The ministry expressed hope for stability in
Afghanistan as soon as possible, stressing its support for the Afghan people.
It reiterated the Kingdom’s position rejecting the criminal acts, “which are
incompatible with all religious principles and moral and human values.” Pentagon
spokesperson John Kirby said on Twitter: “We can confirm that the explosion at
the Abbey Gate was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of
US and civilian casualties. We can also confirm at least one other explosion at
or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate.” Several Western
countries said the airlift of civilians was now effectively over, with the US
having sealed the gates of the airport leaving no way out for tens of thousands
of Afghans who worked for the West through two decades of war. The blasts came
as the Aug. 31 deadline looms for the US to withdraw its troops, and for it and
other Western countries to end a massive airlift that has already evacuated
nearly 100,000 people.
The airport is the only part of the country under foreign control following the
Taliban’s return to power on Aug. 15, and huge crowds have massed in the hope of
being evacuated. The Taliban did not identify the attackers, but a spokesman
described it as the work of “evil circles” who would be suppressed once the
foreign troops leave. The Taliban condemned the blasts, saying they were in an
area under US military control. “The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns the
bombing targeting civilians at Kabul airport,” said a statement released by
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s main spokesman, on Twitter.
Zubair, a 24-year-old civil engineer, who had been trying for a nearly week to
get inside the airport with a cousin who had papers authorizing him to travel to
the US, said he was 50 meters from the first of two suicide bombers who
detonated explosives at the gate. “Men, women and children were screaming. I saw
many injured people — men, women and children — being loaded into private
vehicles and taken toward the hospitals,” he said. After the explosions there
was gunfire.
Violence from Daesh creates a headache for the Taliban who have promised that
their victory will bring peace to Afghanistan
at last.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain’s airlift would
continue “going up until the last moment. We are able to continue with the
program in the way we have been running it, according to the timetable that we
have got and that is what we are going to do.”
Lt. Col. Georges Eiden, Luxembourg’s army representative in neighboring
Pakistan, said that Friday would mark the official end for US allies. But two
Biden administration officials denied that was the case.
A third official said that the US worked with its allies to coordinate each
country’s departure, and some nations asked for more time and were granted it.
“Most depart later in the week,” he said, while adding that some were stopping
operations Thursday. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly. Danish Defense
Minister Trine Bramsen bluntly warned earlier: “It is no longer safe to fly in
or out of Kabul.”Denmark’s last flight has already departed, and Poland and
Belgium have also announced the end of their evacuations. The Dutch government
said it had been told by the US to leave Thursday.But Kirby, the Pentagon
spokesman, said some planes would continue to fly. “Evacuation operations in
Kabul will not be wrapping up in 36 hours. We will continue to evacuate as many
people as we can until the end of the mission,” he said in a tweet.
The Taliban have said they’ll allow Afghans to leave via commercial flights
after the deadline next week, but it remains unclear which airlines would return
to an airport controlled by the militants. Turkish presidential spokesman
Ibrahim Kalin said talks were underway between his country and the Taliban about
allowing Turkish civilian experts to help run the facility.
Biden warns Kabul airport attackers: ‘We will hunt you down’
Reuters/August 26, 2021
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden, his voice breaking with emotion, vowed on
Thursday the United States will hunt down the attackers of twin explosions at
the Kabul airport in Afghanistan and said he has asked the Pentagon to develop
plans to strike back at Islamist militants.
"We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you
pay," he said in remarks at the White House.
US officials strongly believe ISIS-Khorasan group behind
attack at Kabul's airport
NNA/August 26/2021
US officials strongly believe the ISIS-Khorasan group was behind the attack on
Thursday at Kabul's airport, a source familiar with congressional briefings on
Afghanistan said on Thursday. A second US government source familiar with
intelligence activities said that while the US government is still
investigating, the airport attack has "all the hallmarks" of an ISIS-K attack.
Canada announces end to Afghan evacuations
NNA/AA/August 26/2021
Canada's efforts to evacuate Canadians and Afghans from the Taliban-controlled
country came to an abrupt end Thursday. The government made the announcement to
cease airlifts early Thursday. “At this time, no further evacuation flights are
planned," read a statement from the Canadian immigration department. Thousands
of Afghans have been gathered at the Kabul airport wanting desperately to flee
Afghanistan because they fear Taliban reprisals for helping the US and its
allies during military operations. Many also fear a crackdown on freedoms. The
statement from Canada acknowledges it is leaving people behind but said the
situation with the Taliban controlling entry to the airport is too dangerous to
continue evacuation flights before the US pullout deadline of Aug. 31. "The
government of Canada recognizes that there are a number of people in
Afghanistan, including Canadian citizens, permanent residents, their families,
and applicants under programs for Afghans," it said. It also offered advice for
those left behind. "Until such a time that the security situation stabilizes, be
mindful of the security environment and where possible, take the necessary steps
to ensure your security and that of your family," it said. At a news conference
on Thursday, Acting Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre said 3,700 had been
evacuated but that is a small number compared to the tens of thousands Canada
had hoped to fly to safety. Eyre said the Kabul airport, surrounded by the
Taliban, was too volatile to continue flights. A warning was issued Thursday by
countries conducting evacuations that an attack on the Kabul airport could come
at any time, The Associated Press reported. Eyre said Canadians stayed as long
as possible and were among the last to leave. He also acknowledged that leaving
Afghans behind was "truly heartbreaking."
U.S. Says 1,500 Americans May Still Await Kabul Evacuation
Associated Press/August 26/2021
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as many as 1,500 Americans may be
awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan, a figure that suggests the U.S. may
accomplish its highest priority for the Kabul airlift — rescuing U.S. citizens —
ahead of President Joe Biden's Tuesday deadline despite growing concerns of
terror threats targeting the airport. Untold thousands of at-risk Afghans,
however, were still struggling to get into the Kabul airport, while many
thousands of other Afghans already had been flown to safety in 12 days of
round-the-clock flights. On Wednesday, several of the Americans working phones
and pulling strings to get out former Afghan colleagues, women's advocates,
journalists and other vulnerable Afghans said they have seen little concrete
U.S. action so far to get those Afghans past Taliban checkpoints and through U.S-controlled
airport gates to promised evacuation flights. "It's 100% up to the Afghans to
take these risks and try to fight their way out," said Sunil Varghese, policy
director with the International Refugee Assistance Project. Blinken, echoing
Biden's earlier declarations during the now 12-day-old evacuation, emphasized at
a State Department briefing that " evacuating Americans is our top priority. "He
added, "We're also committed to getting out as many Afghans at-risk as we can
before the 31st," when Biden plans to pull out the last of thousands of American
troops.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a security alert warning American
citizens away from three specific airport gates, but gave no further
explanation. Senior U.S. officials said the warning was related to ongoing and
specific threats involving the Islamic State and potential vehicle bombs, which
have set U.S. officials on edge in the final days of the American drawdown. The
officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss
ongoing military operations. Blinken said the State Department estimates there
were about 6,000 Americans wanting to leave Afghanistan when the airlift began
Aug. 14, as the Taliban took the capital after a stunning military conquest.
About 4,500 Americans have been evacuated so far, Blinken said, and among the
rest "some are understandably very scared."The 6,000 figure is the first firm
estimate by the State Department of how many Americans were seeking to get out.
U.S. officials early in the evacuation estimated as many as 15,000, including
dual citizens, lived in Afghanistan. The figure does not include U.S. Green Card
holders. About 500 Americans have been contacted with instructions on when and
how to get to the chaotic Kabul airport to catch evacuation flights. In
addition, 1,000 or perhaps fewer are being contacted to determine whether they
still want to leave. Blinken said some of these may already have left the
country, some may want to remain and some may not actually be American citizens.
"We are providing opportunity," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said of
those Afghans, who include dual Afghan-American citizens. "We are finding ways
to get them to the airport and evacuate them, but it is also their personal
decision on whether they want to depart." On a lighter note, the U.S. military
said an Afghan baby girl born on a C-17 military aircraft during the massive
evacuation will carry that experience with her. Her parents named her after the
plane's call sign: Reach.
She was born Saturday, and members of the 86th Medical Group helped in her birth
aboard the plane that had taken the family from Kabul to Ramstein Air Base in
Germany. Two other babies whose parents were evacuating from Afghanistan have
been born over the past week at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the U.S.
military hospital in Germany. In Washington on Wednesday, Blinken emphasized
that the U.S. and other governments plan to continue assisting Afghans and
Americans who want to leave after next Tuesday, the deadline for Biden's planned
end to the evacuation and the two-decade U.S. military role in Afghanistan.
"That effort will continue, every day, past Aug. 31," he said. Biden has cited
what he U.S. says are rising security threats to U.S. forces, including from an
affiliate of the Islamic State terror group, for his determination to stick with
Tuesday's withdrawal deadline. Germany has said Western officials are
particularly concerned that suicide bombers may slip into the crowds surrounding
the airport. The U.S. Embassy has already been evacuated; staff are operating
from the Kabul airport and the last are to leave by Tuesday.
Biden said this week he had asked his national security team for contingency
plans in case he decides to extend the deadline. Taliban leaders who took
control of Afghanistan this month say they will not tolerate any extensions to
the Tuesday deadline. But Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted that "people
with legal documents" will still be able to fly out via commercial flights after
Tuesday.
U.S. troops are anchoring a multinational evacuation from the airport. The White
House says the airlift overall has flown out 82,300 Afghans, Americans and
others on a mix of U.S., international and private flights. The withdrawal comes
under a 2020 deal negotiated by President Donald Trump with the Taliban.
Refugee groups are describing a different picture than the Biden administration
is when it comes to many Afghans: a disorganized, barely-there U.S. evacuation
effort that leaves the most desperate to risk beatings and death at Taliban
checkpoints. Some Afghans are reported being turned away from the Kabul airport
by American forces controlling the gates, despite having approval for flights.
U.S. military and diplomatic officials appear to still be compiling lists of
eligible Afghans but have yet to disclose how many may be evacuated — and how —
private Americans and American organizations said. "We still have 1,200 Afghans
with visas that are outside the airport and haven't got in," said James
Miervaldis with No One Left Behind, one of dozens of veterans groups working to
get out Afghans who worked with the U.S. military during America's nearly 20
years of combat in the country.. "We're waiting to hear from the US. government
and haven't heard yet."
Marina LeGree of Ascend, a U.S.-based nonprofit that worked to develop fitness
and leadership in Afghan girls and young women, described getting calls from
U.S. officials telling the group's interns and staffers to go to the airport for
evacuation flights, only to have them turned away by American forces keeping
gates closed against the throngs outside. One Afghan intern who went to the
airport with her family saw a person killed in front of them, and a female
colleague was burned by a caustic agent fired at the crowd, LeGree said. "It's
heartbreaking to see my government fail so badly," said LeGree, the group's
American director, who is in Italy but in close contact with those in Kabul.
U.S.-based organizations, speaking on background to discuss sensitive matters,
cite accounts from witnesses on the ground as saying some American citizens, and
family members of Afghans with green cards, still were having trouble pushing
and talking their way into the Kabul airport for flights. Kirby said the U.S.
military will preserve as much airlift capacity at the airport as possible in
the coming days, ahead of Tuesday's deadline. The military will "continue to
evacuate needed populations all the way to the end," he said. But he added that
in the final days and hours there will have to be a balance in getting out U.S.
troops and their equipment as well as evacuees. Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, the
deputy director of regional operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S.
forces had conducted another helicopter mission beyond the perimeter of the
airport to pick up people seeking to evacuate. The number of U.S. troops at the
airport has dropped by about 400, to 5,400, but the final withdrawal has not
begun, Kirby said Wednesday.
Russia to Supply Weapons to Afghanistan's Neighbors
Agence France Presse/August 26/2021
Russia said Thursday it has received new orders for arms and helicopters from
Central Asian republics bordering Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover
of the country. The orders come as countries in the ex-Soviet region, where
Moscow holds military bases, have raised concerns over the militant group
sweeping to power. "We are already working on a number of orders from countries
in the region for the supply of Russian helicopters, fire arms and modern border
protection systems," Alexander Mikheev, the head of Russia's state arms exporter
Rosoboronexport, told the RIA Novosti news agency. While Russia remains
cautiously optimistic about the new leadership in Kabul, it has warned of
militants entering neighbouring countries as refugees. Uzbekistan and Tajikistan
earlier this month held joint military exercises with Russia close to their
borders with Afghanistan. Drills involving members of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance led by Moscow, are also
scheduled in Kyrgyzstan between September 7 and 9. The maneuvers will focus on
"the destruction of illegal armed groups that have invaded the territory of an
CSTO member state", according to the press-service of the alliance quoted by the
Interfax news agency. While the Taliban has said it does not pose a threat to
Central Asian countries, the ex-Soviet republics in the region have previously
been targeted by attacks attributed to allies of Afghan Islamists.
ISIS-Khorasan emerges as serious threat in Afghanistan
The Arab Weekly/August 26/2021
KABUL--US officials said the complex attack outside Kabul airport, Thursday, is
“definitely believed” to have been carried out by the Islamic State (ISIS)
extremist group.An official said members of the US military were wounded in
Thursday’s attack, which involved two suicide bombers and gunmen. The twin
suicide bombings struck outside Kabul’s airport, where large crowds of people
trying to flee Afghanistan have massed, killing at least 13 people, Russian
officials said. Western nations had warned earlier in the day of a possible
attack at the airport in the waning days of a massive airlift. Suspicion for any
attack targeting the crowds would likely fall on ISIS and not the Taliban, who
have been deployed at the airport’s gates trying to control the mass of people.
President Joe Biden warned Wednesday there is “an acute and growing risk” of an
attack at the airport by the group’s regional chapter, called Islamic State-Khorasan
or ISIS-K. The United States, Britain and Australia have told people to leave
the area for safer locations.
Islamic State-Khorasan
Months after the Islamic State declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria in 2014,
breakaway fighters from the Pakistani Taliban joined militants in Afghanistan to
form a regional chapter, pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi. The group was formally acknowledged by the central Islamic State
(ISIS) leadership the next year as it sunk roots in northeastern Afghanistan,
particularly Kunar, Nangarhar and Nuristan provinces. It also managed to set up
sleeper cells in other parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, including Kabul,
according to United Nations monitors. Latest estimates of its strength vary from
several thousand active fighters to as low as 500, according to a UN Security
Council report released last month. “Khorasan” is a historical name for the
region, taking in parts of what is today Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Central
Asia. The Islamic State’s Afghanistan-Pakistan chapter has been responsible for
some of the deadliest attacks of recent years. It has massacred civilians in
both countries, at mosques, shrines, public squares and even hospitals. The
group has especially targeted Muslims from sects it considers heretical,
including Shia. Last year, it was blamed for an attack that shocked the world.
Gunmen went on a bloody rampage at a maternity ward in a predominantly Shia
neighbourhood of Kabul, killing 16 mothers and mothers-to-be. Beyond bombings
and massacres, ISIS-Khorasan has failed to hold any territory in the region,
suffering huge losses because of Taliban and US-led military operations.
According to UN and US military assessments, after the phase of heavy defeats
ISIS-Khorasan now operates largely through covert cells based in or near cities
to carry out high-profile attacks.
Relationship with the Taliban
While both groups are hardline Sunni Islamist militants, there is no love lost
between them. They have differed on the minutiae of religion and strategy, while
claiming to be the true flag-bearers of jihad. That tussle has led to bloody
fighting between the two, with the Taliban emerging largely victorious after
2019 when ISIS-Khorasan failed to secure territory as its parent group did in
the Middle East. In a sign of the enmity between the two jihadist groups, ISIS
statements have referred to the Taliban as apostates.How has ISIS reacted to the
Taliban victory in Afghanistan?
Not well. Islamic State (ISIS) had been highly critical of the deal last year
between Washington and the Taliban that led to the agreement for withdrawing
foreign troops, accusing the latter of abandoning the jihadist cause. Following
the Taliban’s lightning takeover of Afghanistan, a number of jihadist groups
around the world congratulated them, but not Islamic State. One ISIS commentary
published after the fall of Kabul accused the Taliban of betraying jihadists
with the US withdrawal deal and vowed to continue its fight, according to the
SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant communications. What is the
threat at Kabul airport? US officials say Kabul airport, with thousands of
US-led foreign troops surrounded by huge crowds of desperate Afghans, is under
high threat from ISIS-Khorasan. A flurry of near-identical travel warnings from
London, Canberra and Washington late Wednesday urged people gathered in the area
to move to safer locations. They have not provided any specific details about
the threat. “ISIS-K is a sworn enemy of the Taliban and they have a history of
fighting one another,” Biden said Sunday. “But every day we have troops on the
ground, these troops and innocent civilians at the airport face the risk of
attack from ISIS-K.”Some military transports taking off from Kabul airport in
recent days have been seen launching flares, which are normally used to attract
heat-seeking missiles.
Israeli PM to Make Case to
Biden Against Iran Nuclear Pact
Associated Press/August 26/2021
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are set to hold
their first face-to-face meeting Thursday, and Israel's new leader intends to
press Biden to give up pursuit of reviving the Iran nuclear deal.
Before arriving in Washington, Bennett made clear the top priority of the visit
to the White House was to persuade Biden not to return to the nuclear accord,
arguing Iran has already advanced in its uranium enrichment, and that sanctions
relief would give Iran more resources to back Israel's enemies in the region.
The Israeli leader met separately Wednesday with Secretary of State Antony
Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss Iran and other issues. The
visit was his first to the U.S. as prime minister. Bennett told his Cabinet
ahead of the trip that he would tell the American president "that now is the
time to halt the Iranians, to stop this thing" and not to reenter "a nuclear
deal that has already expired and is not relevant, even to those who thought it
was once relevant."
Biden has made clear his desire find a path to salvage the 2015 landmark pact
cultivated by Barack Obama's administration but scuttled in 2018 by Donald
Trump's. But U.S. indirect talks with Iran have stalled and Washington continues
to maintain crippling sanctions on the country as regional hostilities simmer.
Trump's decision to withdraw from Iran's nuclear deal led Tehran to abandon over
time every limitation the accord imposed on its nuclear enrichment. The country
now enriches a small amount of uranium up to 63%, a short step from
weapons-grade levels, compared with 3.67% under the deal. It also spins far more
advanced centrifuges and more of them than were allowed under the accord,
worrying nuclear nonproliferation experts even though Tehran insists its program
is peaceful. The Biden-Bennett sit-down comes weeks after Ebrahim Raisi was
sworn in as Iran's new president. Raisi, 60, a conservative cleric with close
ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has suggested he'll engage with
the U.S. But he also has struck a hardline stance, ruling out negotiations aimed
at limiting Iranian missile development and support for regional militias —
something the Biden administration wants to address in a new accord.
Administration officials acknowledged that Iran's potential "breakout" — the
time needed to amass enough fissile material for a single nuclear weapon — is
now down to a matter of months or less. But a senior administration official,
who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the Biden-Bennett meeting, said
the administration sees the maximum pressure campaign employed by the Trump
administration as having emboldened Iran to push ahead with its nuclear program.
Bennett is also looking to turn the page from his predecessor, Benjamin
Netanyahu.
Netanyahu had a close relationship with Trump after frequently clashing with
Obama. Biden, who has met with every Israeli prime minister since Golda Meir,
had his own tensions with Netanyahu over the years. During his latest White
House campaign, Biden called Netanyahu "counterproductive" and an "extreme
right" leader.
Biden waited nearly a month after his election before making his first call to
Netanyahu, raising concerns in Jerusalem and among some Netanyahu backers in
Washington that the two would have a difficult relationship. The president
called Bennett just hours after he was sworn in as prime minister in June to
offer his congratulations. Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the liberal Jewish
advocacy group J Street, said Bennett is intent on building a positive working
relationship with the Biden administration. But Ben-Ami, whose group supports a
two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, noted that the two
leaders are out of sync on several issues in addition to Iran. Bennett opposes
the creation of a Palestinian state and supports expansion of settlements in the
West Bank, which Biden opposes. In an interview with The New York Times ahead of
his visit, Bennett declined to comment on whether he would move to block Biden
administration plans to reopen a U.S. consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem.
"The warmth that is going to be projected and the good solid working
relationship cannot fully mask the fact that the agenda that Prime Minister
Bennett comes to Washington with and the agenda that the Biden administration is
pursuing on some of the core issues are still almost as different as they could
possibly be," Ben-Ami said.
Israel to Allow Goods into Gaza in Move to Ease Tensions
Associated Press/August 26/2021
Israel said that it would be easing commercial restrictions on the Gaza Strip
and expand entry of goods to the Palestinian enclave following days of
heightened tensions. The announcement came after hundreds of Palestinians
demonstrated Wednesday near the Israeli border, calling on Israel to ease a
crippling blockade days after a similar gathering ended in deadly clashes with
the Israeli army. Hamas kept the crowds from approaching the barrier, and the
protests ended without a repeat of Saturday's intense clashes that left one
Palestinian dead and an Israeli border policeman critically injured after being
shot from point-blank range. The defense ministry body in charge of Israel's
crossings with the Palestinian territory said in a statement late Wednesday that
it would increase imports of new vehicles, goods and equipment for civilian
projects in the Gaza Strip, and issue more permits for Gazan businessmen to
enter Israel starting Thursday. The easing of restrictions would be "conditional
upon the continued preservation of the region's security," and could be further
expanded if the border situation improves, the body, known as COGAT, said. Hamas
officials said Egypt would also be partially reopening its key border crossing
with the Gaza Strip Thursday, after closing it in a bid to persuade Hamas, the
Islamic militant group ruling the territory, to reimpose calm. Egypt has been
trying to broker a long-term cease-fire between the enemy sides since May's
11-day war that killed around 260 Palestinians and 13 people in Israel.
Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and numerous skirmishes since 2007, when
the militant group seized power in Gaza in an armed coup following its victory
in the Palestinian elections. Israel and Egypt imposed a devastating blockade
since Hamas took control, which Israel says is necessary to keep Hamas from
rearming.
More than 150 killed in Ethiopia attack: Rights agency
Daily News/August 26/2021
Gunmen killed more than 150 people in an attack last week in a restive part of
western Ethiopia that sparked deadly reprisals, the Ethiopian Human Rights
Commission (EHRC) said on Aug. 26. “The area’s residents and others have
told the commission more than 150 people were killed by the gunmen," the
state-affiliated but independent commission said in a statement. The August 18
attack occurred after security forces withdrew from a part of Oromia, a troubled
region in Ethiopia’s west, the commission said. Witnesses told the EHRC that the
gunmen were affiliated with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed group
blamed for violence in western and southern Ethiopia. The killings sparked an
exodus of residents, mainly women and children, to neighboring areas and
"ethnic-based reprisal attacks" that left more than 60 people dead in the days
afterward, the commission said. The OLA, believed to number in the low
thousands, broke off from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an opposition party
that spent years in exile but was allowed to return to Ethiopia after Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018. Abiy’s government has blamed the OLA
for a number of recent massacres targeting ethnic Amharas, the country’s
second-largest group, though the militants have denied responsibility.—Daily
News
Cairo sees deployment of Turkish drones in Cyprus as
‘provocative,’ avoids escalation
The Arab Weekly/August 26/2021
NICOSIA, Cyprus--The deployment of Turkish drones to northern Cyprus has angered
Egypt, which considers the move “a provocation” that will raise the level of
tensions in the eastern Mediterranean region. But Egyptian analysts rule out any
Egyptian reactions that could boost tensions with Ankara at the present time.The
leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Ersin Tatar, boasted on Turkish
television earlier this month that the Bayraktar TB2 drones at the air base in
Gecitkale could be scrambled much faster than from bases on mainland Turkey to
“inspect the region” up to the coast of Egypt.
Turkish-Egyptian relations are at standstill despite talks held to normalise
their ties. The two countries have been at odds since the overthrow of the
Turkish-backed president Mohamed Morsi, which was followed by a large number of
Muslim Brotherhood leaders seeking a safe haven in Turkey.
The Cypriot government views the drone deployment as a means for Turkey to
pursue its “expansionist agenda”, using military assets to extend its reach and
buttress its control of a region that potentially holds significant natural gas
reserves. Turkey has stationed heavy weapons and more than 35,000 troops in
northern Cyprus since the island was split along ethnic lines in 1974, when
Turkish forces invaded in response to a coup by supporters of union (enosis)
with Greece. The siting of the drones provides Turkey with a wider strike
capability that has upped regional unease.
An Egyptian official described the deployment as part of “Ankara’s provocative
measures” that requires a “firm reaction” from the international community,
especially the United States and the European Union, of which Cyprus is a
member. “The base, along with other measures in Cyprus, Libya and the
Mediterranean, would only further destabilise the region. It is alarming,” an
Egyptian diplomat told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
“The latest (the base) solidifies the notion that Turkey will not be deterred
through statements, but it needs actions from relevant countries,” he said.
Although the Turkish moves worry Egypt, analysts rule out any Egyptian
escalation towards Turkey in the near future, given that the relations between
the two parties are currently frozen and there is an agreement to avoid
flare-ups until a settlement of controversial issues is reached.
But analysts see Egypt’s expressions of alarm as intended to carry a message to
the international community that any future attempts to accommodate Turkey will
only encourage it to engage in more provocative actions, based on Ankara’s
assessment that the US and Europe are currently too preoccupied with
developments in Afghanistan and Iran to pay attention to what Turkey is doing.
One analyst believes that “Ankara’s move in northern Cyprus aims to ease the
pressure on Turkey for the departure of its forces and mercenaries from Libya,
where the Turks want to turn their presence into an irreversible fait accompli
and part of a wider strategy of widening their footprint in the eastern
Mediterranean.”
The international community, regional powers and some Libyan parties have called
on Turkey to withdraw its forces and surrogates from Libya but Ankara has
rejected all appeals. Turkish moves are also seen as testing Cairo’s
relationship with its Cypriot and Greek allies, which will bring the
Mediterranean partnership between the three countries back into the spotlight.
It seems likely that Egypt will try to throw the ball into the Europeans’ court
while it stands with Greece and Cyprus against Turkey on the issue of gas
exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. In January 2019, the East
Mediterranean Gas Forum was created, with headquarters in Cairo. The forum aims
to establish a regional gas market, improve trade relations and secure supply
and demand among member states. The agreement to create the forum was reached
during a tripartite summit which brought together Cypriot president Nicos
Anastasiades, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Greek prime minister
Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The head of the International Studies Unit at the Al-Ahram
Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, Ahmed Kandil, said Turkey is trying
to entrench its presence in the eastern Mediterranean and indicated that the
deployment of the drones reflects the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
intent to end the period of calm that has prevailed in the region over the past
few months.
He further told The Arab Weekly that “the escalation may be linked to direct
problems between Greece and Turkey and to Ankara’s endeavour to show that it
will not reverse its position regarding its armed presence in Libya. It may be
also an indirect reaction to stalled talks between Turkey and Egypt.”
He explained that the recent Turkish moves “do not help Egypt’s attempts to
ensure stability in the eastern Mediterranean, in addition to the fact that
Cairo maintains strategic relations with both Greece and Cyprus and this may
ignite tensions between the three countries on the one hand and Turkey on the
other.”
He pointed out that new tensions in the region will have direct repercussions on
East Med exploration for natural resources, since the latest Turkish move is
likely to drive away investors and intensify military activities in Egypt’s
neighbourhood. Such scenarios are not in Cairo’s interest, he said.
At least two Bayraktar TB2 drones are currently stationed at Gecitkale. With an
operating range of 200 kilometres, endurance of 27 hours and a flight ceiling of
6,100 metres, the drones can can carry weapons and surveillance equipment
capable of delivering real-time images to Turkish naval vessels.
Turkey is said to be upgrading the Bayraktar’s systems to be satellite-guided to
extend their range further. The air base is said to be receiving its own upgrade
for a planned deployment of additional drones, surveillance aircraft, training
planes and advanced fighter jets.
Canada announces additional humanitarian assistance to
Afghanistan and neighbouring countries
August 26, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
Canada is deeply concerned by the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan and
its impact on the humanitarian needs of crisis-affected people as it continues
to worsen.
Today, the Government of Canada is announcing an allocation of $50 million for
the initial humanitarian response and will be ready to respond to further United
Nations and Red Cross appeals. Based on identified needs, Canada will work
through trusted humanitarian partners, such as the World Food Programme, the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the
Red Cross, who have operational capacity on the ground both inside Afghanistan
and in neighbouring countries.
This assistance will be provided in response to international humanitarian
appeals, as coordinated and led by the United Nations. It will be delivered
through UN and other established humanitarian partners with operational capacity
to respond to these needs. Our partners will employ mitigation measures to
ensure the assistance reaches the most vulnerable and is not diverted to other
actors or for other purposes. With Canada’s support, humanitarian partners will
provide life-saving assistance, such as food, support for health care, clean
water and sanitation.
It is imperative that this support reach the people who need it the most. We
strongly urge all parties to allow rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian
access to populations in need.
Quick facts
This new funding will come from Canadian international assistance resources and
is in addition to the $27.3 million in humanitarian assistance already allocated
for Afghanistan in 2021.
Associated links
Humanitarian assistance
Canada temporarily suspends operations at Embassy of Canada to Afghanistan
Government of Canada offers refuge to Afghans who assisted Canada
Contacts
Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
Follow us on Twitter: @CanadaFP; @CanadaDev
Like us on Facebook: Canada’s foreign policy - Global Affairs Canada; Canada’s
international development - Global Affairs Canada
Qatar’s emir receives UAE delegation, both sides discuss
cooperation
Arab News/August 26, 2021
DUBAI: Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani has received a delegation
headed by UAE’s National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al-Nahyan,
state news agency WAM reported. Both sides exchanged views on multiple issues of
common interest. They have further discussed enhancing cooperation between the
two countries, especially in the economic and trade fields, and investment
projects. Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al-Nahyan conveyed to Qatar’s Emir the
greetings of UAE’s President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Dubai Ruler
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed
bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. From his side, Qatar’s Emir conveyed his greetings to the
UAE’s leadership and said he wishes further developments and prosperity for the
country and its people.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials published on
August 26-27/2021
Today in History: Turkey is Born of Jihad
Raymond Ibrahim/August 26/2021
Today in history, on August 26, 1071, one of the most decisive battles in all
world history took place, that of Manzikert, without which there would be no
modern nation of Turkey to speak of—much less centuries of jihadist conquests
and atrocities in the Balkans.
It is, in fact, a battle that Turkey is celebrating today, as it does annually.
Its hero, Seljuk sultan Muhammad bin Dawud — better known in the West by his
Turkish nickname, Alp Arslan, meaning “Heroic Lion” — is a personal favorite of
Turkish president Erdoğan. After all, as historian Carole Hillenbrand explains,
the battle “symbolized the subjugation of Christianity by Islam. Manzikert was
perceived to be the first step in an epic story in which Turkish-led dynasties
would defeat the Christians and proclaim the triumph of Islam.”
As such, it may behoove the Western reader to become acquainted with that
pivotal encounter that occurred today in history.
By the middle of the eleventh century, the Seljuk Turks had virtually
annihilated the whole of Armenia — massacring and enslaving hundreds of
thousands, according to contemporary records. They continued riding westward
across Asia Minor, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire (“Byzantium”), leaving
a trail of smoke and destruction in their wake.
Although several Byzantine rulers equivocated, on becoming emperor in 1068,
Romanus Diogenes made it his priority to act. By 1069, he had amassed and
marched a massive army deep into Asia Minor, liberating numerous cities from the
Turks.
The two forces eventually met near the city of Manzikert, just north of Lake
Van. Sultan Muhammad bin Dawud sent a delegation to parley with Romanus on “the
pretext of peace,” though in reality, he was “stalling for time,” explained
Michael Attaleiates, who was present. This only “roused the emperor to war.”
Romanus spurned the emissaries, forced them to prostrate themselves before him,
and commanded them to tell their sultan that “there will be no treaty … and no
going home except after I have done in the lands of Islam the like of what has
been done in the lands of Rome [Asia Minor].” Then, having “dismissed the
ambassador with the greatest contempt,” Romanus incited his men to war with
“words of extraordinary violence.”
Muhammad exhorted his men to jihad and reminded them of its win-win promise: “If
we are given victory over them, [well and good]. If not, we will go as martyrs
to the Garden.” “We are with you!” cried the men in unison when he finished his
harangue, followed by a barrage of “Allah akbars” that reportedly “shook the
mountains.”
Thus, as “martial music resounded from both sides and the dust of the
battlefield billowed up like clouds in the sky,” the two armies met on that
fateful Friday, August 26, 1071.
The battle ensued in the usual way: Turkic horsemen, in a crescent formation
that hid their fewer numbers, sped forward and unleashed volleys of arrows,
before swiftly retreating. Throngs of Christian men and their horses fell; some
even broke rank and fled. Undaunted, Romanus maintained the line and marched his
forces forward, but because the Muslims had unlimited terrain to fall back on,
the Christian army never managed to corner and finish them off, even as the
Turks continued to engage in effective hit-and-run tactics.
When the day was nearly spent, Romanus ordered an about-face back to camp, the
only place to feed his men and water their horses. Once he turned his back, the
Turks launched an all-out assault, “hurling themselves fiercely upon the Romans
with terrifying cries.” Havoc ensued, not least as some of Romanus’s generals
betrayed and fled. “All were shouting incoherently and riding about in disorder;
nobody could say what was going on. … It was like an earthquake with howling,
sweat, a swift rush of fear, clouds of dust, and not least Turks riding all
around us,” Attaleiates later remembered.
Romanus’s Varangian Guard (the empire’s elite unit of Nordic warriors who were
always attached to the emperor they served) was surrounded and, despite fighting
valiantly, butchered to the last man. Seeing that he was
abandoned and completely cut off from help, [Romanus] unsheathed his sword and
charged at his enemies, killing many of them and putting others to flight. But
he was surrounded by a crowd of adversaries and was wounded in the hand. They
recognized him and he was completely encircled; an arrow wounded his horse,
which slipped and fell, dragging its rider down with it. Thus the emperor of the
Romans was captured and led in chains to the sultan.
Worse, the once proud and imperious Romanus became the first Roman emperor in
over a thousand years to experience the ignominy of being taken prisoner from
the field of battle. As for his men, one Muslim chronicler writes that the
Christians “were killed to such an extent that a valley there where the two
sides had met was filled [with their corpses].”
Sultan Muhammad declared victory and hurriedly dispatched “the cross and what
had been taken from the Byzantines” to Baghdad, and “the caliph and the Muslims
rejoiced. Baghdad was decorated in an unprecedented fashion and domes were
erected. It was a great victory the like of which Islam had not seen before,”
writes a Damascene historian.
As seen, the battle opened the doorway to the permanent conquest of Asia Minor.
Before he was assassinated a year later, Muhammad had commanded the Turks to “be
like lion cubs and eagle young, racing through the countryside day and night,
slaying the Christians and not sparing any mercy on the Roman nation.” This they
did, and “the emirs spread like locusts, over the face of the land,” invading
every corner of Anatolia, sacking some of ancient Christianity’s most important
cities, including Antioch, where the word “Christian” was coined, and Nicaea,
where the Christian creed was formulated in 325. “All that was left were
devastated fields, trees cut down, mutilated corpses and towns driven mad by
fear or in flames.” Hundreds of thousands of Anatolian Christians were
reportedly massacred or enslaved.
By the early 1090s, the Turks had taken the last Christian bastion, Nicomedia,
only 2,500 feet away from the imperial capital of Constantinople, across the
narrowest point of the Bosporus strait. Not only did that occasion the First
Crusade, but centuries later, on May 29, 1453, it led to the fall of
Constantinople and much of the Balkans to the Turks. But that is another story —
one which still has to reach its finale.
Note: Quotes from this article were excerpted from and are documented in the
author’s book, Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and
the West.
Europe Braces for Tsunami of Afghan Migrants
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute./August 26/2021
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has estimated that up to five million
people will try to leave Afghanistan for Europe.
"I am clearly opposed to us now taking in more people. That will not happen
under my chancellorship. Taking in people who then cannot be integrated is a
huge problem for us as a country." — Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
"As minister of the interior, I am primarily responsible for the people living
in Austria. Above all, this means protecting social peace and the welfare state
over the long term." — Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer.
"It is clear to us that 2015 must not be repeated. We will not be able to solve
the Afghanistan issue by migration to Germany." — Paul Ziemiak, general
secretary of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
party.
Afghan criminals, including rapists and drug traffickers, who previously had
been deported to Afghanistan, have now returned to Germany on evacuation
flights. Upon arrival in Germany, they immediately submitted new asylum
applications.
"Our country will not be a gateway to Europe for illegal Afghan migrants." —
Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi.
"We need to remind our European friends of this fact: Europe — which has become
the center of attraction for millions of people — cannot stay out of the Afghan
refugee problem by harshly sealing its borders to protect the safety and
wellbeing of its citizens. Turkey has no duty, responsibility or obligation to
be Europe's refugee warehouse." — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The Taliban conquest of Afghanistan is poised to trigger an unprecedented wave
of Afghan migration to Europe. Pictured: Afghan asylum seekers disembark from an
evacuation flight from Afghanistan, at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base in Spain,
on August 24, 2021. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP via Getty Images)
The Taliban conquest of Afghanistan is poised to trigger an unprecedented wave
of Afghan migration to Europe, which is bracing for the arrival of potentially
hundreds of thousands — possibly even millions — of refugees and migrants from
the war-torn country.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, expressing an ominous sense of
foreboding, has estimated that up to five million people will try to leave
Afghanistan for Europe. Such migration numbers, if they materialize, would make
the previous migration crisis of 2015 — when more than a million people from
Africa, Asia and the Middle East made their way to Europe — pale by comparison.
Since 2015, around 570,000 Afghans — almost exclusively young men — have
requested asylum in the European Union, according to EU estimates. In 2020,
Afghanistan was the EU's second-biggest source of asylum applicants after those
from Syria.
Afghan males, many of whom have been especially difficult to assimilate or
integrate into European society, have been responsible for hundreds — possibly
thousands — of sexual assaults against local European women and girls in recent
years. The arrival in Europe of millions more Afghans portends considerable
future societal upheaval.
The 27 member states of the European Union are, as usual, divided on how to
prepare for the coming migratory deluge. The leaders of some countries say they
have a humanitarian obligation to accept large numbers of Afghan migrants.
Others argue that it is time for Islamic countries to shoulder the burden.
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, the administrative arm of
the European Union, said that the EU has a "moral responsibility" to take in
those who are fleeing the Taliban. The leaders of many EU member states
disagree.
In Austria, which in recent years has taken in over 40,000 Afghans (the second
highest number in Europe after Germany, which has taken in 148,000 Afghans),
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz vowed that his country will not be accepting any more.
In an interview with Austrian broadcaster Puls 24, he said that Austria had
already made a "disproportionately large contribution" to Afghanistan:
"I am clearly opposed to us now taking in more people. That will not happen
under my chancellorship. Taking in people who then cannot be integrated is a
huge problem for us as a country."
Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer, in a joint statement with Foreign
Minister Alexander Schallenberg, called for Afghans illegally in Austria to be
deported to Islamic countries, now that they cannot, according to EU law, be
deported back to Afghanistan:
"If deportations are no longer possible because of the restrictions imposed on
us by the European Convention on Human Rights, alternatives must be considered.
Deportation centers in the region around Afghanistan would be one possibility.
That requires the strength and support of the European Commission."
Nehammer, in an interview with the APA news agency, insisted that deportations
should be viewed as a security issue rather than as a humanitarian matter:
"It is easy to call for a general ban on deportations to Afghanistan, while on
the other hand ignoring the expected migration movements. Those who need
protection must receive it as close as possible to their country of origin.
"A general ban on deportation is a pull factor for illegal migration and only
fuels the inconsiderate and cynical business of smugglers and thus organized
crime.
"As minister of the interior, I am primarily responsible for the people living
in Austria. Above all, this means protecting social peace and the welfare state
over the long term."
Schallenberg added:
"The crisis in Afghanistan is not unfolding in a vacuum. Conflict and
instability in the region will sooner or later spill over to Europe and thus to
Austria."
An opinion poll published by Österreich 24 showed that nearly three-fourths of
respondents back the Austrian government's hard line Afghan migration. The poll
linked the support to a high-profile criminal case in which four Afghans in
Vienna drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl who was strangled, lost
consciousness and died.
In Germany, migration from Afghanistan has emerged as a major issue ahead of
federal elections scheduled for September 26. Paul Ziemiak, general secretary of
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, said
that Germany should not adopt the open-door migration policy it pursued in 2015,
when Merkel allowed into the country more than a million migrants from Africa,
Asia and the Middle East. In an interview with German broadcaster n-tv, he said:
"It is clear to us that 2015 must not be repeated. We will not be able to solve
the Afghanistan issue by migration to Germany."
CDU chancellor candidate Armin Laschet has remained silent on the Afghan issue,
as has the chancellor candidate for the Social Democrats (SPD) Olaf Scholz. By
contrast, the chancellor candidate for the Greens party, Annalena Baerbock,
called for Germany to take in well over 50,000 Afghans. "We have to come to
terms with this," she said in an interview with ARD television.
Meanwhile, Afghan criminals, including rapists and drug traffickers, who
previously had been deported to Afghanistan, have now returned to Germany on
evacuation flights. Upon arrival in Germany, they immediately submitted new
asylum applications. "It is not a completely new scenario that people come to
Germany who previously had been deported," said an interior ministry spokesman.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron has called for a coordinated European
response to prevent mass migration from Afghanistan:
"The destabilization of Afghanistan will likely increase the flow of irregular
migration to Europe.... Europe alone will not be able to assume the consequences
of the current situation. We must plan and protect ourselves against large
irregular migratory flows that endanger those who are part of them and fuel
trafficking of all kinds."
Marine Le Pen, who is running neck and neck in the polls with Macron ahead of
French presidential elections set for April 2022, said that France should say
"no" to massive migration of Afghan refugees. A petition on her party's website
— "Afghanistan: NO to a new migratory highway!" — stated:
"We are fully aware of the human tragedies and the obvious distress of some of
the legitimate refugees. But the right of asylum must not continue to be, as it
is now, the Trojan horse of massive, uncontrolled and imposed immigration, of
Islamism, and in some cases of terrorism, as was the case with certain jihadists
involved in the attacks of November 13, 2015 [date on which a series of
coordinated jihadist attacks took place in Paris in which more than 130 people
were killed and more than 400 were injured.]
"The mayors of certain large cities have already announced their intention to
welcome refugees. It is in our opinion an obvious risk to their fellow citizens.
"What matters to us first and foremost is the protection of our compatriots."
Meanwhile, five Afghans who were airlifted to France have been placed under
counter-terrorism surveillance for suspected ties to the Taliban, according to
the French Interior Ministry. One of the men, who worked for the French embassy
in Kabul, admitted, under questioning, to have previously managed a Taliban
checkpoint. Another 20 Afghans taken to France are being investigated for asylum
fraud.
In Greece, the government, fearing a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis, has
erected a 40-km (25-mile) fence and installed a new surveillance system on its
border with Turkey to deter Afghan migrants from trying to reach Europe. In
recent years, Greece has been a key gateway to Europe for migrants from Africa,
Asia and the Middle East.
Public Order Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis said:
"We cannot wait, passively, for the possible impact. Our borders will remain
safe and inviolable."
Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarachi, added that the EU
needs to send "the right messages" in order to avoid a new migration crisis
"which Europe is unable to shoulder." He stressed: "Our country will not be a
gateway to Europe for illegal Afghan migrants."
In Italy, Prime Minister Mario Draghi called for the Group of 20 major economies
to hold a summit on the situation in Afghanistan. The Italian newspaper La
Repubblica noted:
"The G20, for Draghi, has a strategic value: it is in that forum that one can
and must reach a commitment that binds not only the forces of a West that has
come out battered from its twenty-year mission in Afghanistan, but also and
above all those countries such as China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey which
have interests and influence on the self-proclaimed Islamic state."
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in a statement to
Parliament, announced a plan to take in 20,000 Afghan migrants:
"We must deal with the world as it is, accepting what we have achieved and what
we have not achieved....
"We will not be sending people back to Afghanistan and nor by the way will we be
allowing people to come from Afghanistan to this country in an indiscriminate
way.
"We want to be generous, but we must make sure we look after our own security."
In Turkey, the government is building a 295-km (180-mile) wall along its border
with Iran to prevent a new influx of migrants from Afghanistan. Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that a new wave of migration is "inevitable"
if Afghanistan and Iran fail to secure their borders. He added that Turkey will
not become a "refugee warehouse" for fleeing Afghans:
"We need to remind our European friends of this fact: Europe — which has become
the center of attraction for millions of people — cannot stay out of the Afghan
refugee problem by harshly sealing its borders to protect the safety and
wellbeing of its citizens. Turkey has no duty, responsibility or obligation to
be Europe's refugee warehouse."
Meanwhile, thousands of Afghan migrants are arriving in countries across Europe,
including Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia and Sweden, among
others.
Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo (here, here and here) agreed to temporarily
shelter hundreds of Afghans who worked with Western peacekeeping military forces
and are now threatened by the Taliban.
Spain said that it would temporarily host up to 4,000 Afghan migrants at two
military bases used by the United States.
Slovenia, which currently holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency, said
that the European Union will not allow a surge in Afghan migration. Prime
Minister Janez Janša tweeted:
"The #EU will not open any European 'humanitarian' or migration corridors for
#Afghanistan. We will not allow the strategic mistake from 2015 to be repeated.
We will only help individuals who helped us during the #NATO Operation. And to
the EU members who protect our external border."
Meanwhile, dozens of Afghan migrants are trapped along the border between Poland
and Belarus. Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said
that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's practice of sending migrants
across their borders is an act of "hybrid warfare." Lukashenko is accused of
seeking revenge for sanctions the EU imposed over his disputed reelection and a
crackdown on dissent.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that although he sympathized with
the Afghan migrants, he said that they were "a tool in the hands of Mr.
Lukashenko" and that Poland would not succumb to "this type of blackmail."
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Why Is Congress on the Sidelines as Afghanistan Burns?
Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute./August 26, 2021
But the oversight -- the real-world exercise of the constitutional separation of
powers, checking and balancing each other -- that is what our host leadership
wanted to avoid.
Importantly, it was the leadership--not those who served under them, often on
the front lines--who resented the very thought of oversight and resisted at
every turn. The troops and embassy staff were always thrilled that we took the
time and ran the risk to see first-hand what was happening... Members of
Congress, on the other hand, were just everyday people who knew nothing about
what needed to be done or how to do it.
People are dying. America is suffering humiliation. And the president and the
bureaucracy are trying to get away with it. Hats off to Meijer and Moulton, both
military veterans, by the way, for showing us all that Congress is an equal
branch of government -- and for refusing to let the Biden administration cover
up its catastrophic failure in Afghanistan.
Congratulations to the two members of Congress, Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) and Seth
Moulton (D-Mass.), who had the exceptional courage to pay an unannounced visit
to Kabul. The situation in Afghanistan is screaming for immediate congressional
oversight. Right now, before it's too late, Congress might still be able to
exercise an influence over, and perhaps help change, the disastrous Afghanistan
policy of the Biden administration. Americans should applaud Meijer and Moulton
for bucking the corrupt Washington system, despite intense pressure to bow to
it.
When I heard about this "unauthorized" trip yesterday I knew exactly what would
happen. The bureaucracy, congressional leadership, and the media would all
strongly criticize the effort. Washington scorns and derides those who disrupt
the system and don't play by its rules. I felt that same pressure for 18 years
as a member of Congress. The Washington elite consider themselves the ruling
elite. They dedicate immense effort to controlling the story line in DC. They
keep members of Congress in the dark, like mushrooms. They tell the elected
representatives of the people as little as possible, and only divulge
information when necessary.
During my congressional tenure, I visited Iraq ten times and Afghanistan five
times. Let me share one incident that typifies how the elites skirt
congressional oversight in any way they can. On one trip to Iraq, we members of
Congress were told that we would have to stay in Jordan and fly into Iraq each
day. Ensuring our safety would just be too difficult if we stayed overnight in
Iraq. Besides, there was no room for us in country. The result? The trip to and
from Iraq would take approximately five hours each day. Our time on the ground
to exercise congressional oversight would be severely limited.
During our initial meeting with the military and State Department leadership I
asked them about this. Why were planes, helicopters and all kinds of other
vehicles available to transport us each day into Iraq, yet no tents were on hand
for us to sleep in? Their response was simply, "Nope, no resources in country.
Sorry about that." I had heard differently, however, so I asked them, "Ok, how
did you find resources for the Washington Redskins (now Team) cheerleader squad
to stay in country for a multiple-night visit?" They laughed off the idea that
NFL cheerleaders would be visiting a war zone, but I told them I had an inside
source who'd told me that they were in country at that very moment. The
leadership all looked at their staff, who confirmed that the cheerleaders were
in Iraq, and staying in Iraq overnight.
Of course, I understand: cheerleaders make far more pleasant guests than a
congressional delegation. But the oversight -- the real-world exercise of the
constitutional separation of powers, checking and balancing each other -- that
is what our host leadership wanted to avoid.
This might be the most amusing example of the often appalling arrogance of the
military bureaucracy, the State Department, and the intelligence community, but
unfortunately it wasn't the only instance. This was an attitude that I faced
over and over again. Importantly, it was the leadership--not those who served
under them, often on the front lines--who resented the very thought of oversight
and resisted at every turn. The troops and embassy staff were always thrilled
that we took the time and ran the risk to see first-hand what was happening. But
their leadership believed that they were the professionals. Members of Congress,
on the other hand, were just everyday people who knew nothing about what needed
to be done or how to do it.
The most pressing questions before us now are: Why did Meijer and Moulton have
to sneak into Afghanistan? Why haven't Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi
organized oversight trips into Afghanistan? Why is Congress on the sidelines as
Afghanistan burns?
People are dying. America is suffering humiliation. And the president and the
bureaucracy are trying to get away with it. Hats off to Meijer and Moulton, both
military veterans, by the way, for showing us all that Congress is an equal
branch of government -- and for refusing to let the Biden administration cover
up its catastrophic failure in Afghanistan.
*Pete Hoekstra is a former Representative in Congress from Michigan. He served
as the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. More recently he was U.S.
Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
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Coordinated Law Enforcement and Treasury Action Against
Money Launderers in the Tri-Border Area
Emanuele Ottolenghi/Policy Brief-FDD/August 26/2021
The U.S. and Paraguayan governments took coordinated action yesterday against
the money laundering network of Kassem Mohamad Hijazi, a Brazilian citizen of
Lebanese descent implicated in government corruption and Hezbollah terror
finance. The move represents a long-overdue step to crack down on rampant
corruption and illicit finance in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) connecting Paraguay,
Argentina, and Brazil, but much work remains to be done.
Acting on a U.S. extradition request, Paraguay’s anti-narcotics teams arrested
Hijazi and raided his business offices in Ciudad Del Este, a Paraguayan city
located near the Argentinian and Brazilian borders. Within hours of his arrest,
the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed anti-corruption sanctions against
Hijazi along with his first cousin, Khalil Ahmad Hijazi, and one of their
associates, Paraguayan businesswoman Liz Paola Doldan Gonzalez. Treasury also
designated five entities allegedly “connected with their corruption schemes.”
The TBA has long been a key hub for money laundering operations on behalf of
organized crime and terror organizations. According to Treasury, the Hijazi
money laundering organization “operates on a global scale with the capability to
launder hundreds of millions of dollars.” A leaked U.S. diplomatic cable from
2005 called Kassem Hijazi “a principle Hizbollah [sic] fundraiser and activist,”
alleging that he used “a portion of [his] laundered funds to support Lebanese
Hizbollah activities.”
Thanks to their corrupt practices, the Hijazis and Doldan have until now enjoyed
virtual impunity from local authorities. Though Paraguayan authorities had
previously charged both Kassem Hijazi and Doldan, neither suffered significant
consequences. Treasury noted that Hijazi “maintains connections to Paraguayan
government officials to avoid law enforcement action against his money
laundering organization.” For example, he “commands plain-clothed officers of
the Investigation and Special Operations Division … of the Alto Parana Police
Department in Paraguay to carry out activities for him in exchange for monthly
payments.”This is not the exception in Paraguay, but the rule. While the
country’s top prosecutor touted Hijazi’s arrest as proof of Paraguay’s success
in combating financial crime amid intense scrutiny from international financial
watchdogs, illicit finance and corruption remain rampant.
Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department imposed anti-corruption sanctions
against Ulises Quintana, a member of parliament from Paraguay’s ruling party.
The State Department alleged that he “facilitated transnational organized crime,
undermined the rule of law, and obstructed the public’s faith in Paraguay’s
public processes.” Undeterred, Quintana is running for mayor of Ciudad Del Este,
where most money laundering operations in the TBA are based.
Meanwhile, other major money laundering cases in Paraguay continue to languish.
In fact, former President Horacio Cartes is wanted in neighboring Brazil for
that crime yet continues to live freely in Paraguay, where he remains a key
political player.
The Biden administration has vowed to treat “the fight against corruption as a
core national security interest,” including by combating illicit finance. To
fulfill this commitment, the administration should increase designations against
corrupt regional officials and money laundering networks. Washington must also
sustain pressure on Paraguay and other regional governments to clamp down on
corruption and illicit finance.
*Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies (FDD), where he also contributes to FDD’s Center on Economic and
Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from Emanuele and CEFP, please
subscribe HERE. Follow Emanuele on Twitter @eottolenghi. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD
and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute
focusing on national security and foreign policy.
EU Actions Show Iran Will Pay No Price for Terror
Alireza Nader & Benjamin Weinthal/Creal Clear World/August
26/2021
AuThe European Union has made its position on Iran abundantly clear. The
attendance of senior EU official Enrique Mora at the inauguration of Iranian
president Ebrahim Raisi demonstrated that Brussels will pursue a policy of
engagement with and concessions to the Islamic Republic rather than siding with
the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom. The EU occasionally pays lip
service to the cause of human rights in Iran, but its policy has consistently
empowered the Islamic Republic. European officials are loath to apply pressure
on the regime, tolerate the assassination of exiled dissidents on European soil,
and try to ignore events in Iran, including mass demonstrations, labor strikes,
and the regime’s jailing and torture of opponents.
The goal of EU diplomacy is to revive at all costs the 2015 nuclear deal with
Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Mora’s presence in
Tehran underscores that message – he is Brussels’ point-man in Vienna,
coordinating talks between the United States and Iran.
Mora’s conduct in Vienna and in Tehran has provided another shot in the arm to
the Iranian regime’s effort to secure the legitimacy it does not warrant.
Turnout reached a historic low in the transparently rigged election that
elevated Raisi to the presidency. Voters knew their next president would be man
a responsible for the execution of thousands of political prisoners.
At the inauguration, Mora was pictured sitting among the leaders of several top
terrorist groups including Hamas Chairman Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah Deputy
Secretary General Naim Qassem. Mora also posed for friendly pictures with top
regime officials such as Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Even in Vienna, Mora has shown more sympathy for Tehran than for its victims.In
June, he appeared to approve the Austrian government’s prevention of peaceful
Iranian dissidents from protesting outside the Grand Hotel Wien against the
Iranian nuclear talks.
While the EU fears that holding Tehran accountable could undermine the current
talks, the Islamic Republic has busied itself kidnapping German-Iranians,
Austrian-Iranians, Swedish-Iranians and British-Iranians to force additional
concessions from European leaders.
This feebleness emboldens the regime in Tehran, giving it every reason to kidnap
or even murder more dissidents in the West. Last December, the regime abducted
and executed the French resident and Iranian dissident Ruhollah Zam after luring
him to Iraq. Tehran hanged Zam for his work operating the Telegram channel
called Amadnews that exposed widespread corruption within the regime.
The Biden administration did not take a position on Mora’s visit to Tehran when
it should have issued a strong condemnation. Nor has Biden not paused his own
efforts to revive the nuclear deal despite the FBI uncovering Tehran’s plot to
kidnap Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad, a New York resident. Like the
EU, the Biden administration has proven desperate to salvage the JCPOA. Raisi
and his master, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, can rest assured that
there will be no price to pay for any violence they deem necessary to keep the
regime in power, such as gunning down as many as 1,500 protesters such during
mass demonstrations in November 2019. Mora and his bosses prefer not to
challenge a weakening and vulnerable yet dangerous Islamist regime.
Both the EU and the White House may soon realize that a return to the JCPOA and
appeasing the regime are both losing strategies.
Raisi is likely to drive a harder bargain with the Biden administration in the
nuclear talks, knowing that Tehran’s provocations, including its July 29 attack
on the Mercer Street commercial tanker in the Gulf of Oman, will go unpunished.
The regime is likely to see Mora’s visit and the West’s general passivity as a
green light to continue its aggression at home and in the region. If European
leaders want to protect their own citizens and prevent terror attacks on
European soil, they should swiftly sanction the officials and organizations
involved in the hostage-taking and execution of EU and British citizens. They
should also demand the immediate release of the surviving hostages as a
pre-condition to the next round of nuclear talks in September.
It is time for U.S. and European leaders to recognize that an unconditional
commitment to nuclear diplomacy led them to sacrifice their concern for human
rights in Iran and even on their own soil. Yet this trade-off did not secure a
better nuclear deal, or even a decent one. Instead, it encourages Iran to
escalate its repression while demanding ever more concessions at the negotiating
table.
* Alireza Nader is a senior fellow focusing on Iran and U.S. policy in the
Middle East at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (@FDD), where Benjamin
Weinthal is a research fellow. Follow them on Twitter @AlirezaNader and @BenWeinthal.
FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on
national security and foreign policy. The views expressed are the author's own.
Afghanistan war critics blame Biden for the current chaos.
They need to look in the mirror.
Bradley Bowman/Think/August 26/2021
The tragedy’s primary cause was the decision to withdraw, not the way the
withdrawal was conducted.
For years, politicians and pundits on both the left and right have been invoking
the misleading mantra of “endless war” to condemn the continuing presence of
U.S. forces in Afghanistan and to demand that U.S. troops return home regardless
of continued threats facing Americans. Advocates for a withdrawal that ignored
conditions on the ground finally got their way in Afghanistan this summer, and
the preventable catastrophe we are now witnessing is the result — revealed in
heartbreaking images of Afghan men, women and children fleeing for their lives
as the Taliban recapture the country.
Advocates for a withdrawal that ignored conditions on the ground finally got
their way in Afghanistan this summer, and the preventable catastrophe we are now
witnessing is the result.
In response, many of the very same advocates for withdrawal are now expressing
shock and sadness regarding consequences of the policy they supported that were
entirely predictable. These advocates are attempting to argue the catastrophe
has been caused by the way President Joe Biden’s withdrawal has been implemented
rather than the decision to withdraw itself.
That argument, however, does not withstand scrutiny. Anyone paying the slightest
attention knew in advance that a premature U.S. troop withdrawal from
Afghanistan, based on keeping to a certain deadline, would likely result in a
Taliban takeover. As The New York Times reported Aug. 18, the “intelligence
agencies warned for years about the Taliban’s strength and the likelihood that
the Afghan government and military could not hold on after U.S. and
international military forces left.”
Shortly after Biden assumed office, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley advised the president to
keep troops in Afghanistan and warned of the consequences of not doing so, The
New York Times reported. In March, Austin and Milley essentially conducted a
last-ditch intervention with the president, reminding him of the failed 2011
U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq (which Biden supported), the subsequent rise
of the Islamic State group in the vacuum left by U.S. troops and the costly
return of the American military in 2014. “We’ve seen this movie before,” Austin
reportedly cautioned Biden.
How did Biden mess this up so badly?
These warnings were publicly and explicitly reinforced by the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence on April 9 in its annual threat assessment
presented to Congress. “The Taliban is likely to make gains on the battlefield,
and the Afghan Government will struggle to hold the Taliban at bay if the
coalition withdraws support,” the intelligence community warned.
But Biden brushed aside these warnings, and on April 14 announced his decision
to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on our country. The response from the left was
nearly universal praise. That includes New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. On
April 17, she declared that “Biden was right to ignore dire warnings about what
will happen when we leave.”
Biden proceeded to then end most all U.S. air support for Afghan forces, even
depriving the Afghan military of most of the contract and maintenance support it
needed. The psychological impact on Afghan security forces of the American
abandonment cannot be overestimated, and it was a significant contributor to the
rapid battlefield success of the Taliban this month.
When the predictable and horrible consequences of the withdrawal she supported
became apparent, Dowd — like many on the left — blamed Biden rather than
acknowledge he was following her advice. “Biden did the right thing getting us
out of there. But he did it badly,” she wrote Saturday. “Biden could have told
the Taliban he was not abiding by Trump’s fatally flawed deal and renegotiated
it to avoid this pell-mell disgrace. But Trump and Biden were so impatient to
get out, their screw-ups merged into strangulating red tape.”
Many Democratic politicians are also pointing to Biden rather than looking
inward. As CNN noted last week, though many Democrats are now calling for
investigations into what went wrong in the pullout, “members of his party in
Congress nearly all backed Biden when he announced plans to withdraw US troops
from Afghanistan in April,” maintaining there was no need to reconsider his
planned departure deadline.
Interestingly, this stance on the left is remarkably similar to former President
Donald Trump’s position. “It's not that we left Afghanistan. It's the grossly
incompetent way we left!" Trump declared last week. But the truth is that the
decision by Biden to pursue a calendar-based withdrawal motivated by the “ending
endless war” narrative and an ill-advised promise Biden made in his campaign is
the primary explanation for the disaster we are seeing now in Afghanistan.
To be sure, Biden’s botched withdrawal made things even worse. It was by no
means inevitable that thousands of Americans and many more vulnerable Afghan
partners would find themselves stuck on Aug. 15 in a country conquered by the
Taliban with its Al Qaeda partners wondering if it's possible to sneak past
terrorist checkpoints and make it safely to the solitary evacuation point at
Kabul airport. They could have been evacuated from the country months ahead of
time.
The administration should have had a contingency plan in place to at least slow
the Taliban’s advance to permit time for an expedited but orderly evacuation
from multiple departure points around the country. It is reasonable to ask
whether such a contingency plan existed and why it was not implemented.
America's Afghanistan disaster — and the consequences of kleptocracy
But even if the premature American military withdrawal had proceeded as smoothly
as possible, we still would have ended up with a Taliban-Al Qaeda terror
syndicate governing from Kabul enjoying a virtually uncontested safe haven in
Afghanistan — as it did on Sept. 11, 2001. Millions of additional Afghans would
still have wanted to flee, and nearly every Afghan woman and girl would have
been left to fear that the freedoms they had increasingly come to enjoy were at
risk.
Moderate Democrats need to say which poor Americans they don't want to help
Trump and the many on the left like Dowd who pushed the “ending endless war”
narrative are trying to cover their tracks. But Trump never left anyone with the
impression that he prioritized allies or democracy abroad. Biden, in contrast,
has given a lot of lip service to the importance of standing with allies,
helping fellow democracies and leading with diplomacy (all priorities I
emphatically support and was proud to help advance when I served as a Senate
staffer).
Then, after talking the talk, our current commander in chief failed to walk the
walk. The Biden administration abandoned a beleaguered democracy in its hour of
need and lost one of America’s most valuable counterterrorism allies in the
process. Unsurprisingly, diplomacy not backed by military power proved
ineffective — even destructive.
Securing those gains — not to mention preventing another 9/11 attack from being
launched from Afghanistan against our country — was evidently not a sufficient
reason for some to justify retaining a few thousand troops in Afghanistan in
ongoing support of Afghan forces bearing the brunt of the burden, and the
sacrifice, to hold back a murderous and misogynist terrorist adversary.
Even if the premature American military withdrawal had proceeded as smoothly as
possible, we still would have ended up with a Taliban-Al Qaeda terror syndicate
governing from Kabul.
In the coming days, members of Congress will convene hearings to understand what
went wrong in Afghanistan. The urgent focus should be pressing the
administration to get Americans and vulnerable Afghans to safety regardless of
how long it takes. Senators and representatives should also demand answers on
why the withdrawal went so badly.
But if members of Congress stop there, they will miss the main reason for the
disaster we are witnessing: the administration’s decision to conduct a full
military withdrawal by a specific date knowing that it would almost certainly
result in a Taliban takeover and terrorist safe haven.
While working to minimize the damage from this mistake, we should accept the
clear lessons that will help us avoid similar disasters in the future. That is a
goal around which all Americans, regardless of political party, should be able
to unite.
Azerbaijani support underpins Turkey’s ambitions in South
Caucasus
Burcu Ozcelik/The Arab Weekly/August 26/2021
Turkey is bolstering defence cooperation with Azerbaijan as it seeks to double
down on the military success of last year’s war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
As skirmishes along the Armenian-Azerbaijan border increased in recent weeks,
there was even speculation that Turkey was on the brink of forging a joint
military force with Baku. Turkey helped Azerbaijan come out on top of the
six-week conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and it wants to capitalise by
further boosting its influence in the South Caucasus.
Under president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP),
Turkey has made no secret of its thirst for a grander role in swathes of the
Arab Middle East, Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean. But if it pushes too far
in the Caucasus, it risks antagonising Russia, which views the region as its own
historical backyard.
Symbolised by the popular motto of “one nation, two states,” Turkey and
Azerbaijan have held a close bond since Baku declared independence in 1991. The
countries are predominantly Muslim, share ethnic and cultural similarities and
are linked by strong economic interests.
A chronic, shared concern between the two is thwarting the regional ambitions of
Armenia. Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and a history of
hostility that dates back a century.
Ties between Ankara and Baku grew deeper after Turkey threw its support behind
Azerbaijan during last year’s conflict. Ankara supplied Azeri forces with armed
Bayraktar TB2 drones that were used to devastating effect against Armenian
troops.
The war ended with a Russian-brokered deal in November and resulted in Baku’s
military victory over several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages. At
least 5,000 soldiers and more than 140 civilians were killed in the fighting,
which also displaced tens of thousands of people. The outcome delivered a blow
to Armenia’s claims to the region that span nearly three decades.
In signs that tensions are far from over, there have been pockets of fighting
along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border over the past few weeks. On August 1, the
Azeri defence ministry said Armenian army elements targeted its positions and
Baku responded with retaliatory fire. In early August, at least three Armenian
troops died and two Azeri soldiers were wounded in clashes in Azerbaijan’s
Kalbajar district.
All this may have fuelled reports in the Turkish media that a joint
Azerbaijan-Turkey force was imminent. The speculation was later rowed back,
after it turned out the source of the confusion was a poor translation of a
statement by Turkish parliament speaker Mustafa Sentop at the signing ceremony
of the Baku Declaration on July 28 between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan. But
the prospect of a joint army had seemed plausible given that military
cooperation between Ankara and Baku has steadily grown since the conflict.
Ankara is adamant that it cannot lose influence over the Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement and is looking to enhance its caretaker role in the South Caucasus.
In late June, the Turkish and Azeri militaries conducted joint drills in Baku
that involved military personnel, tanks and drones. Similar bilateral exercises
were held last year, made possible by a 2010 agreement that mandates cooperation
when either country faces aggression from a third state or group of states.
Turkey and Azerbaijan signed the Shusha Declaration in July, named after the
city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region that Azerbaijan now controls, affirming a
joint commitment to defence cooperation, stability and prosperity in the region.
A central concern lies with restructuring and modernising their armed forces.
Rumours that Turkey may be planning a military base in Azerbaijan are cause for
concern for Russia, which has its own base in Armenia. Moscow has deployed 2,000
peacekeepers to the region and wants to maintain a monopoly over the balance of
power there. On July 20, president Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan met Vladimir Putin
in Moscow for the second time this year to discuss the post-war peace agreement
and a way forward.
Russia is not the only one with an interest in how the Azerbaijan-Armenia
ceasefire deal plays out. Brussels seeks the revival of the Minsk Group under
the auspices of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, paving
the way for the US and France (as Minsk co-chairs) to take on a larger mediating
role. From their perspective, the conflict has not been resolved once and for
all. European Council President Charles Michel said in July during a visit to
Yerevan that “the status of Nagorno-Karabakh must also be addressed.” For years,
Azerbaijan expressed frustration with the stalled Minsk process and is not keen
to assign it any significant role in the border demarcation process with
Armenia.
In recent years, Turkish foreign policy has prioritised the creation of a medley
of regional organisations, pacts and local summits as potential counterweights
to established Western multilateral organisations and powerhouses like Russia
and Iran. For example, the recent trilateral agreement with Pakistan and
Azerbaijan or reports earlier this year of reviving Turkey-Israel relations
through Azeri mediation. Turkey recently hinted at a new six-state platform to
support peace in the Caucasus that would include Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia,
Iran, Georgia and Armenia. Turkey is keen to sign off on a success story in its
otherwise rancorous foreign policy-making and amid its domestic economic woes
and plummeting currency.
But against the backdrop of a burgeoning bilateral military pact between Ankara
and Baku, Russia and neighbouring states are hesitant to buy in to its rhetoric
on regional cooperation. Peripheral states have always managed their
relationship with Russia carefully, wary of the consequences of a misstep. While
Turkey tries to tinker with the regional balance of power, it is unclear just
how much it can achieve beyond its safe-bet alliance with Azerbaijan.
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